JP2019209624A - Image formation apparatus, information processing terminal and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

To facilitate grasping of the loading portions and sheet discharge order of sheets formed with images according to an image formation job.SOLUTION: An image formation apparatus stores the loading state including the sheet discharge completion time for each sheet formed with an image on a tray in the image formation apparatus, performs update in real-time on the basis of the detection result of the loading state of the sheet formed with the image, retrieves an image formation job matching a retrieval request when the retrieval request of any image formation job is input, decides the sheet discharge order of all the sheets formed with the images according to the retrieved image formation job on the basis of the loading state, and displays characters, marks, or images representing the sheet discharge order in a display mode different from those of other images.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 15

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an information processing terminal to which a plurality of paper discharge devices can be attached.

  There is a service form of image formation called print on demand (POD) or production printing. In such a service form, for example, a print order for a small lot and a variety of products is received from a customer. Then, the image is quickly formed using an image forming apparatus that operates at high speed, and delivered. In such an environment, not only one image forming apparatus but also a plurality of image forming apparatuses are installed, and an operator uses them properly for printing. At that time, image formation on a large number of sheets (sheet-like paper, the same applies hereinafter) is quickly performed and discharged. A large-capacity stacker is prepared at the discharge destination. This type of large-capacity stacker stacks thousands of sheets at a time. When a plurality of large-capacity stackers are installed and one large-capacity stacker is full, image formation may be continued by automatically switching the discharge destination to another large-capacity stacker. In this case, an image-formed sheet corresponding to one image forming job is discharged to a plurality of discharge destinations. In the following description, the “image-formed sheet” may be simply referred to as “sheet”.

  On the other hand, the operator performs an operation of collecting the discharged sheet and proceeding to the next process. However, it is not easy to specify the position of a sheet corresponding to a desired image forming job from a large number of discharged sheets and a plurality of image forming apparatuses. As a solution to such a problem, the technique described in Patent Document 1 accepts a request for confirming a sheet discharge destination for each image forming job. Then, a discharge destination device (a discharge device such as a large-capacity stocker) is displayed on a predetermined display device. Thus, the sheet discharge destination corresponding to each image forming job can be confirmed, and the sheets of the processed job can be reliably collected.

JP 2013-146898 A

The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 has the following problems.
(1) A discharge destination in a state where a sheet is not discharged is not displayed. For this reason, in a configuration in which a plurality of paper discharge devices are mounted, it is difficult to grasp which stacking portion of which paper discharge device is the discharge destination.
(2) When there are a plurality of image forming jobs, only the sheet discharge destination corresponding to the selected image forming job is displayed. Therefore, it is impossible to correctly grasp the current sheet stacking state at the discharge destination.
(3) When collecting sheets, both collected image forming jobs and uncollected image forming jobs are displayed. For this reason, it takes time to specify the stacking status of sheets to be actually collected.
(4) The display of the paper discharge destination can only display the position of the paper discharge destination in only one image forming apparatus. Therefore, in order to search for a target image forming job from a plurality of image forming apparatuses, it is not necessary to check one by one, but it is very time-consuming to grasp the order of which is the oldest throughout the whole. Take it.

  The main object of the present invention is to provide a technique that makes it easy to specify information about a sheet discharge destination and a discharge order of a target image forming job from a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet according to an image forming job, and a plurality of sheet stacking units that can stack image-formed sheets discharged from the image forming unit Storage means for storing first information representing an overall arrangement mode of the plurality of sheet stacking units and second information representing a stacking state of the image-formed sheets for each image forming job in each sheet stacking unit; A control unit configured to generate a whole image visualizing the arrangement mode based on the first information and display the generated whole image on a predetermined display unit. An image formed according to the searched image forming job by searching for an image forming job that matches the search request from the second information in response to an input of a search request for the image forming job. The sheet discharge order Narusumi sheet and determines on the basis of the second information, characters representing the determined sheet discharge order, the symbols or images, and displaying on said display means together with the entire image.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily specify a sheet discharge destination and a discharge order of a target image forming job from a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming system. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state where a paper discharge device is mounted on the image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a conveyance mechanism of the image forming system. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating apparatus configuration information. The illustration figure of loading status information. 6 is a control flow showing an operation procedure when the image forming apparatus is activated. 6 is a control flow showing a procedure for processing an image forming job in the image forming apparatus. 7 is a control flow showing a procedure of sheet collection detection processing. The control flow which shows the operation | movement procedure (at the time of starting) of an information processing terminal. FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram of a monitor screen. 7 is a control flow showing a procedure when an image forming job search is executed. FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram of a list for calculating a discharge order. FIG. 4 is an exemplary view of a monitor screen after searching for an image forming job. FIG. 10 is another exemplary view of a monitor screen after searching for an image forming job. FIG. 10 is another exemplary view of a monitor screen after searching for an image forming job.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of an image forming system to which the present invention is applied. The image forming system 1 is configured by connecting an information processing terminal 100 and an image forming apparatus 101 to a communication network 105. In this example, an example in which the information processing terminal 100 and the image forming apparatus 101 are one is shown, but there may be a plurality of each. The communication network 105 is a LAN (Local Area Network). However, the communication network 105 may be a WAN (Wide Area Network), a combination of LAN and WAN, or a wired network.

The information processing terminal 100 includes a network communication unit 110, a control unit 111, a storage unit 112, a display unit 113, and an input unit 114. The network communication unit 110 is a communication unit that controls communication performed with the communication network 105. The storage unit 112 is storage means for storing a large amount of data temporarily or for a long time. In this example, the image forming apparatus 101 connected to the information processing terminal 100 via the communication network 105 is registered in the storage unit 112 of the information processing terminal 100 in the image forming apparatus registration list and managed. The display unit 113 is display means for performing various displays for the operator. In the present embodiment, an entire image and a sheet image to be described later are displayed. The input unit 114 receives various instructions from the operator, range specification, input data, processed job specification, and the like. The processed job refers to an image forming job in which image formation on a sheet is completed as will be described later.
When the display unit 113 is configured with a touch panel, various instructions from the operator can be input from the display unit 113.

  The control unit 111 is a kind of computer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) forms various functions in the information processing terminal 100 by executing a computer program for terminal control. This will be described later. A ROM (Read Only Memory) stores the computer program and the like. A RAM (Random Access Memory) is a work memory of the CPU.

  The image forming apparatus 101 includes a network communication unit 120, a control unit 121, a storage unit 122, a paper discharge device mounting port 123, and an image forming unit 124. The network communication unit 120 is a communication unit that controls communication performed with the communication network 105. The storage unit 122 is a storage unit that stores a large amount of data temporarily or for a long time. The paper discharge device mounting port 123 is a mounting unit for mounting the paper discharge device. The image forming unit 124 is an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet for each input image forming job.

  The control unit 121 is a computer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. It may be an embedded computer. The CPU forms various functions in the image forming apparatus 101 by executing a computer program for image formation control, and operates as a control unit that controls the operation of each function. This will be described later. The ROM stores the computer program for controlling the terminal. RAM is a work memory of the CPU.

  The storage unit 122 of the image forming apparatus 101 stores job data 130, a processed job list 131, device display information 132, stacking status information 133, and the like. The job data 130 includes image data and instruction data representing the contents of the input image forming job, data after the execution of the image forming job, data on the execution process of the image forming job, and the like. The processed job list 131 is a list in which image forming jobs executed by the image forming apparatus 101 are recorded as processed jobs. In the processed job list 131, for example, job attributes such as job ID, job name, number of pages, number of copies, and paper are recorded in association with each other.

  The apparatus display information 132 is one piece of first information that represents the overall arrangement of the image forming unit and the plurality of sheet stacking units, and is referred to when generating an entire image to be described later. In this example, since the image forming unit is the image forming apparatus 101 and the sheet stacking unit is a paper discharge device to be described later, the appearance, the structure, the size, and the entire connection time of the image forming device 101 and the paper discharge device are all connected. Information representing the appearance, structure, size, and the like is referred to as device display information 132. For example, it is assumed that three paper discharge devices are daisy-connected to the image forming apparatus 101. In this case, the first paper discharge device adjacent to the image forming apparatus 101 is arranged as the first unit, and thereafter, the second paper discharge device and the third paper discharge device are sequentially arranged. The device display information 132 is determined according to the combination of the connected paper discharge devices. The paper discharge devices are arranged so as to be exchangeable with other paper discharge devices, respectively. Therefore, the device display information 132 is updated to the latest information as appropriate.

  The stacking status information 133 is one piece of second information representing the stacking status of image-formed sheets in each sheet stacking unit, and is referred to when generating a sheet image to be described later. Hereinafter, the image-formed sheet may be abbreviated as “sheet”. A group of two or more sheets may hereinafter be referred to as a “sheet bundle”. The stacking status information 133 includes information indicating the shape and size of a sheet or sheet bundle necessary for generating a sheet image to be described later. This information is updated in real time every time a detection result of a loading state detected by a detection unit described later is acquired. The “loading status” here refers to the presence or absence of sheets in the sheet stacking part (including changes in the part on which the sheet is stacked), the outer shape / size of the sheet, the transition of the sheet stacking height, etc. This refers to the overall change in the state of the sheet until the sheet is collected.

Next, a paper discharge device connected to the paper discharge device mounting port 123 of the image forming apparatus 101 will be described. The paper discharge device is a large-capacity stacker, finisher, or the like, and can be arbitrarily combined or replaced after the fact.
Each of these paper discharge devices includes a sheet stacking unit that can stack and collect sheets for each image forming job. That is, each paper discharge device stacks the sheets of the processed job on the sheet stacking portion so as to form a sheet bundle for each image forming job.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a connection example when three paper discharge devices 201 to 203 are daisy chain connected to the paper discharge device mounting port 123. Each of the paper discharge devices 201 to 203 includes control controllers 211, 212, and 213 for controlling the operation of the own device. The control controllers 211, 211, and 213 are provided with upstream device mounting ports 221, 222, and 223 and downstream device mounting ports 231, 232, and 233, respectively. The upstream device mounting ports 221, 222, and 223 are ports that are connected to the upstream device of the own device via the communication cable 240. The downstream device mounting ports 231, 232, and 233 are ports for connecting to the downstream device via the communication cable 240. As a result, the image forming apparatus 101 and the three paper discharge apparatuses 201, 202, and 203 can communicate with each other. Note that the configuration may be such that the third paper discharge device 203 is removed, and conversely, another device that can communicate with the image forming apparatus 101 is further connected downstream of the third paper discharge device 203. It is also possible.

  Each of the image forming apparatus 101 and the paper discharge apparatuses 201, 202, and 203 includes a sheet conveyance mechanism as a mechanical element. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of these transport mechanisms. In FIG. 3, an image forming unit 300 is a unit that forms an image to be transferred to a sheet, and corresponds to the image forming unit 124 in FIG. The image fixing unit 310 is a unit that fixes the transferred image. Two large-capacity stackers 320 and 340 and one finisher 360 are daisy chain connected to the image fixing unit 310.

  In the image forming unit 300, the paper feed decks 301 and 302 separate the uppermost sheet of the stored sheets and convey it to the sheet conveyance path 303. The development stations 304 to 307 attach toner images using colored toners of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black), respectively. The attached toner image is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 308. The intermediate transfer belt 308 rotates clockwise, for example, and conveys the sheet to the secondary transfer position 309. At that time, the toner image is transferred to the sheet conveyed from the sheet conveyance path 303. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the image fixing unit 310.

  In the image fixing unit 310, the toner image is fused and pressed by the fixing unit 311 to fix the toner image on the sheet. The sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 311 is conveyed from the sheet conveyance path 312 to the sheet conveyance path 315. Depending on the type of sheet, additional heating and pressurization may be required. In this case, after passing through the fixing unit 311, the sheet is conveyed to the second fixing unit 313 using a subsequent sheet conveyance path. The sheet subjected to additional heating and pressurization is conveyed to the sheet conveyance path 314. The reversing unit 316 reverses the conveyed sheet using a switchback method. In the case of image formation on one side of a sheet, the inverted sheet, that is, the sheet on which an image is formed is conveyed to a sheet conveyance path 315. When image formation is performed on both sides of a sheet, the sheet is conveyed to a double-side reversing path 317, reversed, and then conveyed to a double-sided conveying path 318. As a result, the second side image is formed at the secondary transfer position 309 and conveyed to the sheet conveyance path 315. The sheet that has passed through the sheet conveyance path 315 is input to the large-capacity stacker 320 through the sheet conveyance path 324.

The large-capacity stacker 320 includes a stack unit 321 that includes a lift tray 322 and an eject tray 323 for stacking sheets. These are controlled by the controller 211 shown in FIG.
The lift tray 322 is positioned at a sheet stacking portion having a predetermined height when no sheets are stacked, and descends as stacking progresses. The eject tray 323 is a tray for reloading sheets and ejecting them out of the apparatus when the lift tray 322 is lowered to the reload position. The lift tray 322 and the eject tray 323 are configured such that the bars that support the sheets exist at alternate positions. Therefore, the sheets on the list tray 322 can be transferred to the eject tray 323 without any obstacle.
The sheet is conveyed to the paper discharge unit 326 through the sheet conveyance paths 324 and 325. The paper discharge unit 326 nips the sheet between the lower rotator and the upper rotator and flips and discharges the sheet to the lift tray 322. “Flip paper discharge” means that the sheet is discharged while the front and back sides are reversed so that the surface of the both sides of the sheet that contacts the lower rotating body of the paper discharge unit 326 is the upper surface on the lift tray 322. It is.

  The lift tray 322 is controlled such that when the stacking of sheets proceeds, the lift tray 322 is lowered by the height of the stacked sheets, and the upper end of the stacked sheets is always at a predetermined height. When the lift tray 322 becomes full, the lift tray 322 descends to the position of the eject tray 323. “Loading full” means that the maximum loadable amount is reached and no further loading can be performed on the lift tray 322. When the lift tray 322 reaches a lower reload position than the eject tray 323, the sheets are reloaded on the eject tray 323. Thereafter, the eject tray 323 is carried out of the apparatus. Thereby, the sheet can be taken out. This operation is called “eject operation”.

  The large capacity stacker 320 also has a top tray 327. The top tray 327 is one of the sheet stacking portions used mainly for outputting samples of sheets stacked on the stack unit 321. During discharge to the stack unit 321, one sheet (or one part) is output to the top tray 327 as a sample. Accordingly, the quality of image formation can be confirmed without taking out the sheets stacked on the stack unit 321. When the sheet is output to the top tray 327, the sheet is conveyed from the sheet conveyance path 324 to the top tray 327 via the sheet conveyance path 328. Note that when a sheet is conveyed to a downstream device of the large-capacity stacker 320, the sheet is conveyed via a sheet conveyance path 329.

The eject tray 323 and the top tray 327 have sheet presence / absence detection sensors 330 and 331, respectively. The sheet presence / absence detection sensors 330 and 331 operate as one of detection units that detect a change in the stacking state of sheets on the tray at predetermined timings. The control unit 121 acquires detection information from the sheet presence / absence detection sensors 330 and 331 in time series, and updates the stacking state information 133 in the storage unit 122 according to the acquired detection information.
The large capacity stacker 340 has the same configuration as the large capacity stacker 320. That is, the stack portion 321 (lift tray 322, eject tray 323) of the large-capacity stacker 320 becomes the stack portion 341 (lift tray 342, eject tray 343) in the large-capacity stacker 340. Similarly, the sheet conveyance paths 324, 325, 326, 328, and 329 of the large-capacity stacker 320 become sheet conveyance paths 424, 425, 426, 428, and 429 in the large-capacity stacker 340. Further, the top tray 327 and the sheet presence / absence detection sensors 330 and 331 of the large-capacity stacker 320 become the top tray 427 and the sheet presence / absence detection sensors 350 and 351 in the large-capacity stacker 340, respectively. These are controlled by the controller 212.

  The finisher 360 performs predetermined post-processing on the conveyed sheet according to the function designated by the operator under the control of the controller 213 shown in FIG. As an example of post-processing, in this example, the sheet is stapled (one or two places) and punched (two or three holes). The finisher 360 includes two paper discharge trays 361 and 362 that are sheet stacking portions. A sheet that is not subjected to post-processing such as stapling is discharged to a discharge tray 361 via a sheet conveyance path 363. A sheet on which the finishing function designated by the operator has been executed is discharged to the discharge tray 362 via the sheet conveyance path 364.

  The paper discharge trays 361 and 362 are configured to be movable up and down. It is also possible to operate to lower the discharge tray 361 and stack a plurality of post-processed sheets on the discharge tray 361. The paper discharge trays 361 and 362 have sheet presence / absence detection sensors 366 and 367, respectively, and detect the stacking status of sheets on the trays. The sheet presence / absence detection sensors 366 and 367 also operate as one of detection units that detect a change in the stacking state of sheets on the tray at predetermined timings. The detection result (detection information) is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 101 in time series through the control controller included in the large capacity stackers 320 and 340.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view of a screen displayed on the display unit 113 of the information processing terminal 100 when a job is processed in the image forming apparatus 101. The display content of this screen is generated by the control unit 111 based on the device display information 132 received from the image forming apparatus 101. Alternatively, the control unit 121 of the image forming apparatus 101 may generate it.
The contents of the device display information 132 differ depending on the combination of the paper discharge devices. In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that device display information 132 corresponding to all combinations of mountable paper discharge devices is recorded in advance. As an example, an example of the device display information 132 corresponding to the device configuration illustrated in FIG. 3 will be described. Although a schematic diagram is used in FIG. 4, the actual device display information 132 is stored in a format such as XML (eXtensible Markup Language) or CSV (Comma-separated values).

  The upper part of FIG. 4 is an entire image 401 that represents the overall arrangement mode in, for example, a bitmap format, and the lower part is a table that records the position information of the discharge tray of each discharge apparatus. The whole image 401 can be displayed as a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image, but here is displayed as a three-dimensional image. Although the sheet or sheet bundle is not drawn in the entire image 401 shown in the upper part of FIG. 4, when the sheet is conveyed, a structural image of the discharge tray of the stacking portion is also drawn (displayed). The For example, an entire image including a structural image representing the lift tray 322 and the eject tray 323 that are displaced in the large-capacity stockers 320 and 340 is displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the large-capacity stackers 320 and 340 have three discharge trays (top tray, lift tray, and eject tray), and the finisher 360 has two discharge trays (upper tray and lower tray). Have. Therefore, in this arrangement mode, a total of eight paper discharge trays can be used. The overall image 401 in the upper part of FIG. 4 displays the actual layout and structure image of these paper discharge devices and paper discharge trays. Therefore, the operator can intuitively grasp on which paper discharge tray the sheets are stacked and can be collected.

  In the table shown in the lower part of FIG. 4, the records of trays # 1 to # 8 correspond to the paper discharge device 421, the tray type 422, and the tray position coordinate 423 installed therein. That is, “Tray # 1” is the top tray of the large-capacity stacker 320 and is provided at the tray position coordinates (396, 102) based on the entire image 401. The tray position coordinates are offset values (number of pixels) in the right direction and the downward direction, respectively, with the upper left corner of the entire image 401 as the origin. The same applies to the other trays # 2 to # 8.

  FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram of the loading status information 133. The stacking status information 133 is stored in the storage unit 122, and is updated, for example, at the timing when the stacking status detection results are acquired at a plurality of locations in each discharge tray, and can be referred to as appropriate. The loading status information 133 has a list type data structure. That is, tray information representing the stacking status of sheets or sheet bundles in the usable paper discharge tray for each tray is shown as tray information # 1 to tray information #N. In the following description, for convenience, one or more sheets may be referred to as a “sheet bundle”. In the relationship with the table shown in the lower part of FIG. 4, the detection result of the stacking status in the tray # 1 corresponds to the tray information # 1. The same applies to tray information # 2, tray information # (N-1), and tray information #N. Note that N is a natural number, and N is 8 in the case of the apparatus configuration illustrated in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, tray information # 1 to tray information #N are in a data format having “total number of stacked sheets” and “sheet bundle information list” as member variables. “Total stacked sheet count” is a variable for counting the total number of sheets stacked on the paper discharge tray. In the “sheet bundle information list”, sheet bundle information representing information related to each sheet bundle is arranged in a list in the sheet stacking order. If no sheets are stacked on any paper discharge tray, the “sheet bundle information list” is an empty list. Each sheet bundle information has “job ID”, “paper ID”, “first sheet position”, “sheet number count”, “job name”, and “discharge completion time” as member variables. “Job ID” is a variable representing an ID of an image forming job corresponding to the sheet bundle. Each image forming job is assigned a unique ID by the image forming apparatus 101, and the ID is recorded in this member variable. “Paper ID” is a variable representing the ID of a sheet corresponding to the sheet bundle. A sheet is defined according to characteristics such as size, basis weight, front and back surface states, and a sheet ID assigned to identify the sheet is recorded in a member variable. The “first sheet position” is a variable indicating how many sheets the first sheet of the sheet bundle counts from the first sheet stacked on the discharge tray. The “sheet count” is a variable for counting the total number of sheets in the sheet bundle. “Job name” is a variable representing the name of the image forming job corresponding to the sheet bundle. “Discharge completion time” is a variable representing the time when the last sheet of the sheet bundle is discharged.

  Next, the operation of the image forming system of this embodiment will be described. First, an operation when the image forming apparatus 101 is started will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a control flow when the image forming apparatus 101 is activated. This control flow is executed when the control unit 121 comprehensively controls each unit in the apparatus. When the image forming apparatus 101 is activated, the control unit 121 transmits an initialization command to all attached paper discharge apparatuses (S101). The initialization command is sent to each paper discharge device via a communication cable. Upon receipt of the initialization command, each paper discharge device returns a paper discharge device ID for specifying the type of the self device to the image forming apparatus 101.

  The control unit 121 stores the received paper discharge apparatus ID in the storage unit 122 (S102). Based on the sheet discharge apparatus ID, it is recognized how the sheet discharge apparatus currently mounted on the image forming apparatus 101 is arranged (the order of the sheet discharge apparatus, etc.), and as a result, the position of the sheet stacking part is recognized. can do. Based on the stored paper discharge device ID from the device display information 132 stored in advance according to the combination of the paper discharge devices, the control unit 121 corresponds to the arrangement mode of the currently mounted paper discharge device. The device display information 132 is specified (S103). For example, in the arrangement mode shown in FIG. 3, device display information 132 corresponding to a configuration in which two large-capacity stackers and one finisher are mounted is specified.

  When the device display information 132 is specified, the control unit 121 initializes the loading status information 133 (S104). That is, the stacking status information 133 is newly generated based on the paper discharge device ID recorded in S102. Immediately after the image forming apparatus 101 is activated, no sheets are stacked on any paper discharge tray. Therefore, the total number of stacked sheets in each tray information of the stacking status information 133 is 0, and the sheet bundle information list is an empty list.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 7, an operation example when the image forming apparatus 101 processes an image forming job will be described. Assume that the image forming job is received from the information processing terminal 100, for example. The image forming job includes designation of tray information of a sheet stacking part, that is, a sheet discharge device for stacking image formed sheets. In the following description, it is assumed that the tray information (top tray / lift tray 322) of the large capacity stocker 320 is designated. FIG. 7 is a control flow of the image forming apparatus 101 at this time. This control flow is also executed when the control unit 121 comprehensively controls each unit in the apparatus.

  The image forming apparatus 101 forms an image on one sheet in the order of pages specified in the image forming job in accordance with the image forming job. After the image formation, the conveyance of the sheet toward the large-capacity stocker 320 designated by the job is started (S201). At that time, the control unit 121 specifies the tray information of the designated large-capacity stocker 320 (S202). The tray information can be specified by referring to the device information display information 132. For example, when attention is paid to tray # 1 in the tray information of the lower table of FIG. 4, this tray # 1 is the top tray of the large-capacity stacker 320. Similarly, tray # 2 is a lift tray 322 of the large-capacity stacker 320. When tray # 2 is designated in the image forming job, the control unit 121 refers to the record of tray # 2 as tray information.

  The control unit 121 adds 1 to the “total stack count” of the specified tray information (S203). The control unit 121 also determines whether the discharged sheet is the first sheet in the discharge tray based on the “total number of stacked sheets” (S204). When it is not the first sheet (S204: N), the control unit 121 reads the last sheet bundle information (referred to as "final sheet bundle information") in the "sheet bundle information list" (S205). Then, the control unit 121 determines whether the “job ID” of the job being processed (during image formation) is the same as the “job ID” in the sheet bundle information read in S205 (S206). When the “job ID” is the same (S206: Y), the control unit 121 determines whether the “paper ID” of the sheet on which the image is formed in S201 is the same as the “paper ID” in the sheet bundle information read in S205. Determination is made (S207). When the “paper ID” is the same (S207: Y), the control unit 121 adds 1 to the “sheet count” of the final sheet bundle information in the tray information (S208), and proceeds to S211.

  When it is the first sheet at S204 (S204: Y), when “Job ID” is different at S206 (S206: N), and when “Paper ID” is different at S207 (S207: N), the control unit 121 Performs the process of S209. That is, in the tray information, new sheet bundle information is added to the end of the sheet bundle information list. The member variables of the new sheet bundle information to be added are as follows.

  First, “job ID” is the job ID of the job being processed. “Paper ID” is a paper ID corresponding to the sheet on which the image is formed in S201. As the “leading sheet position”, “total number of stacked sheets” is input. The “sheet count” is 1. “Job name” is the job name of the job being processed. The “discharge completion time” is not determined when new sheet bundle information is added, since it is unknown whether the currently processed sheet is the final sheet. Then, it progresses to S210.

  In S <b> 210, the control unit 121 determines whether the paper discharge tray specified in S <b> 201 is the lift tray 322 of the large capacity stacker 320. If it is the lift tray 322 (S210: Y), the control unit 121 determines whether or not the lift tray 322 is full with the sheets discharged in S201 (S211). When the stack is full (S211: Y), the sheet on which the image is formed in S201 is the final sheet of the lift tray 322. Therefore, the control unit 121 stores the time when the currently processed sheet is discharged as “discharge completion time” (S212). Thereafter, the control unit 121 determines whether or not the lift tray 322 in which full loading is detected in S211 can be ejected (S213). Whether or not ejection is possible is determined by whether or not a sheet bundle is stacked on the ejection tray 323 of the same large-capacity stacker 320. When the sheet bundle is stacked on the eject tray 323, that is, when it is detected by the sheet presence / absence detection sensors 330 and 331, it is determined that the ejection is not possible. In other cases, it is determined that ejection is possible.

  When the ejection is possible (S213: Y), the control unit 121 restacks the sheet bundle loaded on the lift tray 322 in which the full loading is detected in S211 to the ejection tray 323, and executes the ejection operation (S214). Thereafter, the controller 121 overwrites and copies the tray information of the lift tray 322 that has executed the large-capacity stacker 320 ejection operation in S214 in the stacking status information 133 (S215). Further, the control unit 121 empties the tray information of the lift tray 322 that has executed the eject operation in S214 in the stacking status information 133 (S216). Here, “empty tray information” means that the “total number of stacked sheets” in the tray information is set to 0 and the sheet bundle information list is set to an empty list.

When the discharge tray is not the lift tray 322 (S210: N), the lift tray 322 is not fully loaded (S211: N), or when the ejection tray is not ejectable (S213: N), the control unit 121 processes the loading status information 133. It transmits to the terminal 100 (S217). The same applies after the tray information of the lift tray 322 is emptied (S216).
Thereafter, the control unit 121 determines whether or not the image formation of all sheets by the image forming job has been completed (S218). If not completed (S218: N), the process returns to S201. When image formation for all sheets is completed (S218: Y), the control unit 121 stores the discharge time of the last processed sheet as the “discharge completion time” of the sheet bundle information of the stacking status information 133 ( S219). Thereafter, the control unit 121 transmits the loading status information 133 to the information processing terminal 100 (S220). In addition, the control unit 121 adds a job for which all sheets have been processed to the processed job list 131 (S221), and transmits the processed job list 131 to the information processing terminal 100 (S222). Exit.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 8, an operation when sheet recovery is detected from the paper discharge tray in the image forming apparatus 101 will be described. Here, an example in which sheets are collected from the eject tray 323 of the large-capacity stocker 320 will be described. FIG. 8 is a control flow when the sheet collection detection process is performed. This control flow is also performed when the control unit 121 comprehensively controls each unit in the apparatus. Sheet recovery is detected when the sheet presence / absence detection sensor 330 changes from a state in which stacking of sheet bundles is detected to a state in which it is no longer detected.

  The control unit 121 refers to the stacking status information 133 to identify tray information corresponding to the paper discharge tray in which sheet collection is detected (S301), and empty the tray information (S302). The control unit 121 also determines whether or not the paper discharge tray is the eject tray 323 of the large-capacity stacker 320 (S303). If it is the eject tray 323 (S303: Y), the control unit 121 stores the eject tray 323 in the apparatus (in the large capacity stocker 320) (S304). Further, it is determined whether or not the lift tray 322 of the large-capacity stacker 320 in which sheet collection is detected is full (S305). In the case of full stacking (S305: Y), the control unit 121 executes an ejecting operation for reloading the sheets stacked on the fully loaded lift tray 322 to the eject tray 323 (S306). Then, the control unit 121 overwrites and copies the tray information of the lift tray 322 that has executed the eject operation in the stacking status information 133 to the tray information of the eject tray 323 of the large-capacity stacker 320 (S307). Thereafter, the control unit 121 empties the tray information of the lift tray 322 that has executed the eject operation in the stacking status information 133 (S308).

  If the paper discharge tray whose tray information is empty is not the eject tray 323 (S303: N), the control unit 121 transmits the stacking status information 133 to the information processing terminal 100 (S309), and the series of processing ends. If the lift tray 322 is not full (S305: N), the same applies after the tray information of the lift tray 322 is emptied in S308.

  An operator can check the stacking status of each paper discharge device mounted on the image forming apparatus 101 at any time by an application in which a computer program for terminal control is executed on the information processing terminal 100. The operation of the information processing terminal 100 at this time will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a control flow of application activation processing. This control flow is executed when the control unit 111 comprehensively controls each unit in the terminal.

  When the application is activated in the information processing terminal 100, the control unit 111 reads the image forming apparatus registration list stored in the storage unit 112 of the information processing terminal 100 (S401). Next, in order to ascertain whether or not the number of registered image forming apparatuses can establish communication connection, 1 is substituted into a variable T indicating the number of the image forming apparatus (S402). Next, the control unit 111 starts a communication connection with the Tth image forming apparatus 101 in the image forming apparatus registration list read in S401 (S403). The communication connection means that the communication path is continuously established until an explicit release instruction is input from the operator. When the communication path is established, an acquisition request for the apparatus display information 132 is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 101 (S404). Upon receiving this acquisition request, the image forming apparatus 101 transmits apparatus display information 132 corresponding to the current arrangement mode. When the device display information 132 is updated while the communication connection is established, the image forming apparatus 101 transmits the updated device display information 132 to the information processing terminal 100. When acquired from the image forming apparatus 101, the information processing terminal 100 stores the apparatus display information 132 in the storage unit 112 (S405).

  The information processing terminal 100 also transmits a request for the stacking status information 133 and the processed job list 131 to the image forming apparatus 101 (S406). Upon receiving this request, the image forming apparatus 101 (the control unit 121) transmits the currently stored stacking state information 133 and the processed job list 131 to the information processing terminal 100. The control unit 111 stores the stacking status information 133 and the processed job list 131 acquired from the image forming apparatus 101 in the storage unit 112 (S407). Next, it is confirmed whether the processing from S403 to S407 has been executed for all the image forming apparatuses registered in the image forming apparatus registration list read in S401 (S408). When all the image forming apparatuses have been completed (S408: Y), the control unit 111 performs the next step based on the stored apparatus display information 132, the stacking status information 133, and the processed job list 131. A monitor screen is generated and displayed on the display unit 113 (S409). If the processing has not been completed for all the image forming apparatuses (S408: N), 1 is added to the variable T indicating the number of the image forming apparatus (S410). Then, the process proceeds to S403, and establishment of a communication connection with the next image forming apparatus is started.

  An example of the monitor screen is shown in FIG. The monitor screen 1000 illustrated in FIG. 10 includes an image area 1001, a list area 1002, a search window (search window image) 1004, a search button (search button image) 1005, and connected image forming apparatuses (1006 and 1007). List (list image) is formed. An image area 1001 is an area for visually displaying the entire image and the above-described loading status, and has two display layer structures. In other words, the image area 1001 includes a first display layer and a second display layer for displaying the entire image. On the first display layer, an entire image (entire image 401 shown in FIG. 4) generated based on the device display information 132 stored in S405 is displayed. In this example, the entire image of the image forming apparatus # 1 (1006) is displayed. In the second layer, a sheet image generated according to the stacking status on each paper discharge tray based on the stacking status information 133 received by the information processing terminal 100 is displayed in a mapped manner. The sheet image is updated in real time at a timing when a change in the stacking state is detected. That is, the control unit 111 is configured to be able to change the display mode of the sheet image on the display unit 113 in real time according to the execution of each image forming job.

  In FIG. 10, an entire image 1001 is displayed in a state where no sheet bundle is stacked on the paper discharge tray. In the list area 1002, the processed job list 131 received by the information processing terminal 100 from the image forming apparatus 101 is displayed. The processed job list 131 displays job attributes (job ID, job name, number of pages, number of copies, used paper) of one or more processed jobs. The control unit 111 enables display of sheet images in the order according to the processed job list 131. The control unit 111 also enables the sheet image corresponding to the designated processed job to be displayed separately from the sheet images corresponding to other processed jobs.

  The operator can selectively designate any processed job in the processed job list 131 by operating the input device 114. The example of FIG. 10 shows a state where a processed job (job name: image forming job # 3) having a job ID “00000001” is designated. When the number of processed jobs listed in the processed job list is larger than the number of jobs that can be displayed at once in the list area 1110, the scroll bar 1003 is used. The operator can designate an arbitrary processed job by operating the scroll bar 1003. The designated processed job is highlighted (inverted display) to distinguish it from other processed jobs.

  A search window 1004 is an input area for receiving an input of a character string of a target image forming job from an operator. The character string is a set of characters or symbols representing part or all of a job ID or job name, for example. A search button 1005 is an icon image that enables a keyword search using a character string input to the search window 1004. When a character string is input to the search window 1004 and the search button 1005 is pressed, the corresponding image forming job is searched from the list (1006, 1007) of the image forming apparatuses. The search is performed by the control unit 111. The image forming apparatus list (1006, 1007) displays the image forming apparatuses 101 registered in the image forming apparatus registration list stored in the storage unit 112 as a list. The image displayed at this time is a reduced image (for example, a thumbnail image) so that the entire image 401 of the image forming apparatus 101 can be displayed as a list. Similar to the entire image 401 of the image forming apparatus 101, the reduced image changes in real time due to a change in the processing status of the image forming job.

  Next, a description will be given of an operation example when the loading status information 133 is received from the image forming apparatus 101 or when the search button 1005 is pressed after inputting a search character string in the search window 1004. FIG. 11 is a control flow performed by the control unit 111 of the information processing terminal 100 at this time. In FIG. 11, the control unit 111 deletes the display of the sheet image displayed on the second display layer of the image area 1001 (S501), and then acquires the character string input to the search window (S502). Next, the control unit 111 reads the image forming apparatus registration list stored in the storage unit 112 (S503). Next, the control unit 111 assigns 1 to a variable T representing the number of the image forming apparatus 101 (S504), and then acquires the stacking status information 133 of the image forming apparatus 101 (T) (S505). Next, after substituting 1 for a variable N indicating the order of the discharge trays to be stacked (1106), it is determined in the stacking status information 133 whether or not sheets are stacked on the tray N (S507). When the “total number of stacked sheets count” in the tray information N is 0, it is determined that no sheets are stacked. When sheets are stacked (S507: Y), the control unit 111 calculates the height of the sheet bundle stacked on the tray N (S508). Here, when displaying the entire sheet bundle stacked on the tray N, the number of pixels of the sheet bundle is calculated. The height of the sheet bundle is calculated by multiplying the “total number of stacked sheets count” of the tray information N by a predetermined coefficient P. This coefficient P is a coefficient representing how many pixels the height of one sheet corresponds to. As a result of the calculation, when the height of the sheet bundle includes a decimal value, rounding up is performed to an integer value.

  When the height of the sheet bundle is calculated, the control unit 111 draws the entire sheet bundle on the tray N in the first display color (S509). After that, the control unit 111 assigns 1 to a variable M indicating the number of sheet bundles (S510), and then whether the character string acquired in S502 matches the “job name” of the sheet bundle information M. It is determined whether or not (S511). Thereafter, the sheet bundle information M represents the Mth sheet bundle information in the sheet bundle information list of the tray information N of the received stacking status information 133. When the character string acquired in S502 does not match the “job name” of the sheet bundle M (S511: N), the control unit 111 proceeds to the process of S516. When the character string acquired in S502 matches the “job name” of the sheet bundle information M (S511: Y), the control unit 111 starts drawing the sheet bundle for the sheet bundle information M, that is, the sheet bundle (M). The offset is calculated (S512). The drawing start position height offset is calculated by multiplying the drawing start position of the sheet bundle corresponding to the sheet bundle information M by the coefficient P described above. As a result of the calculation, when the drawing start position height offset includes a decimal value, it is rounded down to an integer value.

  Next, the control unit 111 calculates the height of the sheet bundle (M) (S513). That is, when the sheet image is displayed on the display unit 113, the number of pixels of the sheet bundle (M) is calculated. The height of the sheet bundle (M) is calculated by multiplying the sheet number count by the coefficient P described above. As a result of the calculation, when the height of the sheet bundle (M) includes a decimal value, it is rounded up to an integer value. When the height of the sheet bundle (M) is calculated, the control unit 111 draws the sheet bundle (M) with a second display color different from the first display color (S514). As a result, a sheet image representing a sheet bundle of an image forming job that matches the character string input to the search window 1004 can be displayed in the second display color.

  Next, the control unit 111 sets Time_T indicating the discharge completion time of the image forming apparatus 101 (T) and Time_T_N_M indicating the discharge completion time of the sheet bundle M of the tray N of the image forming apparatus 101 (T). The “discharge completion time” of the bundle M is substituted (S515). At this time, which image forming apparatus is stored in Time_T and which sheet bundle of which tray is stored in Time_T_N_M is stored based on the values of the variables T, N, and M. Time_T indicates the last paper discharge completion time in the image forming apparatus 101 (T), and Time_T_N_M indicates the last paper discharge completion time for each sheet bundle. By using these pieces of information, it becomes easy to grasp the order in which the discharge completion time arrives earlier, that is, the discharge order. For this reason, it becomes easy to obtain the discharge order between the image forming apparatuses and further the discharge order in the image forming apparatus of the image forming job corresponding to the searched character string. This will be described in detail later.

  Next, the control unit 111 determines whether or not all sheet bundle information has been confirmed in the sheet bundle information list of the tray information N (S516). If the confirmation has not been completed (S516: N), the control unit 111 adds 1 to the variable M (S517), and returns to S511. When all the sheet bundle information has been confirmed (S516: Y), the control unit 111 determines whether or not all tray information has been displayed in the received stacking status information 133 (S518). When the display is not finished (S518: N), the control unit 111 adds 1 to the variable N (S519), and returns to S507. When all the tray information has been displayed (S517: Y), it is confirmed whether all the image forming apparatuses have been confirmed (S520). If all the image forming apparatuses have not been confirmed (S520: N), 1 is added to the variable T (S521), and the process returns to S505. When all the image forming apparatuses have been confirmed (S520: Y), the control unit 111 creates a list of Time_T and Time_T_N_M (S522). Next, the control unit 111 sorts the list created in S522 in order of early discharge completion time (ascending order) (S523). At this time, what list is created will be described later with reference to FIG. Then, the control unit 111 displays the discharge order of the image forming job among the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the discharge order of the image forming job in the image forming apparatus based on the information of the list created in S523. (S524), a series of processing ends.

  Here, a list of discharge completion times created in S522 and S523 will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, the result of inputting “image forming job # 3” in the search window 1004 is taken as an example. FIG. 12A shows a list of Time_T and Time_T_N_M recorded in S515 in the order of recording. Since they are recorded in order, numbers such as the numbers of the image forming apparatuses 101 are listed in ascending order of numerical values. If this is not done, the order in which the paper discharge completion times arrive early is not known, so the list is sorted in the order of the time when the paper discharge completion times of Time_T and Time_T_N_M are early. Then, a list as shown in FIG. 12B is created. After that, the control unit 111 displays the discharge order of the searched image forming job on the monitor screen 1000 based on this list. Thereby, it becomes possible to grasp the discharge order between the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the discharge order in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a first example of the monitor screen 1000 when a character string is input into the search window 1004 and a search is executed by pressing the search button 1005. This is because the image forming apparatus # 1 is selected from the image forming apparatus list (1006, 1007), and "search result" is input by inputting "image forming job # 3" into the search window 1004 and pressing the search button 1005. It is a displayed example.
In FIG. 13, an image 1301 is an image in which the control unit 111 displays the sheet image portion corresponding to the search result in the second display color in S514. This image 1301 indicates a sheet image corresponding to “image forming job # 3” in the image forming apparatus # 1. At this time, as described with reference to FIG. 10, even in the images (1006, 1007) of the image forming apparatuses, the sheet image portion corresponding to the search result is displayed in the second display color (the display is updated in real time). Have been).

  On the other hand, information 1302 and 1303 indicate the discharge order of jobs corresponding to the search result between the image forming apparatuses. The paper discharge order is determined based on the list shown in FIG. That is, since the image forming apparatus # 1 is second in FIG. 12B, the information 1302 displays “(2)” indicating that it is second. Since the image forming apparatus # 2 is the first, the information 1303 displays “(1)” indicating that it is the first. Information 1304 is information indicating the discharge order of jobs corresponding to the search result in the image forming apparatus. This paper discharge order is determined based on the list of FIG. Here, since the image forming apparatus # 1 has only one job corresponding to the search result, the image 1304 is the second image forming apparatus in the entire image forming apparatus and is the first sheet bundle. “(2)-[1]” is displayed.

  FIG. 14 shows a second example of the monitor screen 1000 when a character string is entered in the search window 1004 and a search is executed by pressing the search button 1005. This is a display example when “image forming job # 3” is input to the search window 1004 while the image forming apparatus # 2 is selected from the image forming apparatus list (1006, 1007). That is, the search button 1005 is pressed and the search result is displayed. In this example, two sheet bundles corresponding to the search result exist in one image forming apparatus.

  Information 1401 and 1402 indicate the discharge order of jobs corresponding to the search result in the image forming apparatus. These are calculated based on the list of FIG. Here, the information 1401 displays “(1)-[1]” indicating that the first image forming apparatus in the entire image forming apparatus is the first sheet bundle. Further, the information 1402 displays “(1)-[2]” indicating that the first image forming apparatus in the entire image forming apparatus is the second sheet bundle.

As described above, according to the image forming system of the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus in which the image forming job corresponding to the search result exists and the sheet bundle image of the paper discharge destination are displayed in the second color. Information indicating the discharge order between apparatuses and the discharge order in the image forming apparatus is displayed on the monitor screen 1000. Thereby, the position of the image-formed sheet corresponding to the desired image forming job can be easily specified across the plurality of image forming apparatuses. In addition, the operator can know which image forming device collects the target job by referring to the discharge order of the entire image forming device, and collects the job in which the order is important in the wrong order. Can be prevented.
As a result, for example, in an image forming system that receives an order for image formation of a large number of small lots, the positions of image-formed sheets that are distributed and stacked in a plurality of image forming apparatuses can be easily specified.

[Other Examples]
In the present embodiment, the information on the discharge order among a plurality of image forming apparatuses and the information on the discharge order in the image forming apparatus are displayed by numbers. However, as shown in FIG. May be. Information 1501 and 1502 correspond to information 1302 and 1303, and balloon areas 1503 and 1504 correspond to information 1304, 1401 and 1402.
In this embodiment, the configuration example in which the information processing terminal 100 and the image forming apparatus 101 are separated has been described. However, the image forming apparatus 101 may have the function of the information processing terminal 100. That is, the storage unit 112, the display unit 113, and the input unit 114 may be provided in the image forming apparatus 101. In this case, the function of the control unit 111 is realized in the control unit 121.

  The present invention is also realized by executing the following processing. That is, a computer program (terminal management program, image forming program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a device or a system including the same via a network or various storage media. The computer of the apparatus or system reads and executes the computer program. In this case, the computer program and a recording medium storing the computer program constitute the present invention.

Claims (12)

Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet according to an image forming job;
A plurality of sheet stacking means capable of stacking image-formed sheets discharged from the image forming means;
Storage means for storing first information representing an overall arrangement mode of the plurality of sheet stacking units and second information representing a stacking state of the image-formed sheets for each image forming job in each sheet stacking unit;
Control means for generating an overall image visualizing the arrangement mode based on the first information, and displaying the generated overall image on a predetermined display means,
The control means searches for an image forming job that matches the search request from the second information in response to an input of a search request for any of the image forming jobs, and forms an image formed according to the searched image forming job An image forming method for determining a discharge order of finished sheets based on the second information and displaying a character, a symbol, or an image representing the determined discharge order together with the whole image on the display unit. apparatus. The second information includes a discharge completion time for each image-formed sheet,
The control means determines the discharge order in order from the sheet stacking means for stacking the image-formed sheets that arrive early at the discharge completion time.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The control unit generates a sheet image visualizing the stacking state in the sheet stacking unit based on the second information, and displays the sheet image on a stacking portion of the image-formed sheet in the entire image. The sheet image representing the stacking status of the image-formed sheets discharged according to the searched image forming job is displayed in a display form different from the other sheet images. The image forming apparatus described.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit is configured to be able to change a display mode of the sheet image in real time according to execution of the image forming job. An image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet according to an image forming job, and communicates with an image forming apparatus to which a sheet stacking unit that can stack image-formed sheets discharged from the image forming unit for each image forming job is connected Communication means for performing
Obtaining from the image forming apparatus first information representing an arrangement mode of the sheet stacking unit with respect to the image forming unit and second information representing a stacking state of the image formed sheets for each image forming job in the sheet stacking unit; Storage means for storing the acquired information;
Generating an entire image visualizing the arrangement mode based on the first information, generating a sheet image visualizing the stacking state in the sheet stacking unit based on the second information, and Control means for displaying the sheet image on a predetermined display means;
Search means for searching for an image forming job that matches the search request from the second information in response to an input of a search request for any of the image forming jobs,
The control means determines a discharge order of all the image-formed sheets formed according to the image forming job searched by the search means based on the second information, and a character representing the determined discharge order A symbol or an image is displayed on the display unit together with the whole image and the sheet image.   6. The information processing terminal according to claim 5, wherein the character, symbol, or image indicates which sheet stacked on which sheet stacking unit of which image forming apparatus is in which discharge order. The communication means can communicate with a plurality of the image forming apparatuses,
The storage means includes the first information for each of the sheet stacking means of each image forming apparatus connected by communication, and the each of the image formed sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means of each image forming apparatus. Second information is stored,
The second information includes a discharge completion time for each image-formed sheet,
The control means determines the discharge order in order from the sheet stacking means for stacking the image-formed sheets that reach the discharge completion time earlier and the image forming apparatus.
The information processing terminal according to claim 5 or 6. The storage means stores an image forming apparatus list in which a plurality of the image forming apparatuses are listed,
The control means displays a reduced image obtained by reducing the whole image of all the image forming apparatuses included in the image forming apparatus list in a display area different from the whole image.
The information processing terminal according to any one of claims 5 to 7. The control unit causes the display unit to display a search window image, searches the storage unit for the image forming apparatus that matches the character string input through the search window image, and identifies the image forming apparatus specified by the search. Only the reduced image is displayed in the other display area,
The information processing terminal according to claim 8. The control means changes the display of the reduced image according to the detection timing of the processing status of the image forming job in the image forming apparatus.
The information processing terminal according to claim 8 or 9. An image comprising an image forming unit connected to a display unit and forming an image on a sheet according to an image forming job; and a sheet stacking unit capable of stacking image formed sheets discharged from the image forming unit for each image forming job. A computer program for operating a computer incorporated in a forming apparatus as a control device of the image forming apparatus,
The computer,
Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet according to an image forming job;
A plurality of sheet stacking units capable of stacking image-formed sheets discharged from the image forming unit;
Storage means for storing first information representing an overall arrangement mode of the plurality of sheet stacking units and second information representing a stacking state of the image-formed sheets for each image forming job in each sheet stacking unit;
Based on the first information, generate an entire image visualizing the arrangement mode, and function as a control unit that displays the generated entire image on a predetermined display unit,
The control means searches for an image forming job that matches the search request from the second information in response to an input of a search request for any of the image forming jobs, and forms an image formed according to the searched image forming job A computer program for determining a discharge order of finished sheets based on the second information, and displaying a character, a symbol, or an image representing the determined discharge order together with the whole image on the display means. . An image comprising an image forming unit connected to a display unit and forming an image on a sheet according to an image forming job; and a sheet stacking unit capable of stacking image formed sheets discharged from the image forming unit for each image forming job. A computer capable of communicating with the forming device,
Communication means for communicating with the image forming apparatus;
Obtaining from the image forming apparatus first information representing an arrangement mode of the sheet stacking unit with respect to the image forming unit and second information representing a stacking state of the image formed sheets for each image forming job in the sheet stacking unit; Storage means for storing the acquired information;
Generating an entire image visualizing the arrangement mode based on the first information, generating a sheet image visualizing the stacking state in the sheet stacking unit based on the second information, and Functioning as control means for displaying the sheet image on a predetermined display means, search means for searching for an image formation job that matches the search request from the second information in response to an input of a search request for any of the image formation jobs Let
The control means determines the discharge order of all image-formed sheets formed in accordance with the image forming job searched by the search means based on the second information, and indicates the determined discharge order. A computer program for displaying a symbol or an image on the display unit together with the whole image and the sheet image.